Over the last few years, I have lost my mother to cancer, my father to liver cirrhosis, my grandmother to Parkinson's disease and my grandfather to dementia. Some were ill for months, others for years...

Too many cooks spoil the broth, and this seems particularly true in the case of the European Union (EU). The Brexit debate, on whether or not Britain will leave the European Union, has raised questions on where the EU's economy is headed. After years of stress post-2008, most major economies have got back on their feet, but not the EU. It remains a meaningful economy, but its continued woes are a definite cause for concern.

There are certain critical things that all start-ups must do in order to stay in the game. These points are part of the bigger goal of ensuring your start-up succeeds and delivers the returns to you as an investor. Unfortunately, many start-ups often put these points on the back-burner in their earnestness to work on daily operations.

Many Asian companies have traditionally valued employees who left the building last, regardless of whether the work was commensurate with the time spent on the premises. Those who managed to achieve as much if not more in less time, on the other hand, were looked at less favourably. Thankfully, this myopic perception is changing.

There are thousands of brands in Asia, with more cropping up each day. How do you ensure your brand grabs the attention of consumers for the longest time? Each country in Asia is as heterogeneous as all of Europe. Many are yet to consume brands that the West takes for granted. More importantly, many are yet to realize why they should consume them in the first place.

Gartner, the IT consulting major, said at a recent conference that a digital disruption to business is occurring approximately every three years. Current discussions at the World Economic Forum on the 4th Industrial Revolution also speak on similar lines. However, this article is not about digitisation, per se. Rather, it is on how I believe these factors may change the way we look at, and measure, our businesses, whether as an owner or as an employee.

As the Cricket World Cup began last month, I saw some posts on social media that had what can only be described as racially discriminatory content. One made a jibe about the West Indies-Zimbabwe match, asking viewers to increase the brightness of their TV sets. Another poked fun at the English-language skills of a certain Pakistani cricketer. Around the same time, incidents of violence against Indians occurred in the USA, raising a hue and cry in India over racism in America.

Most people globally, including in South Asia, may not know about the emerging TV drama genre in Bangladesh. Natok, as drama is known in Bengali, was always in the cultural ethos of the region. In the present day, this passion for natok has metamorphosed into telefilms that are backed by extremely talented actors, actresses, film-makers, writers, musicians, and visionary producers and channels.